1752 – Frances Burney, English satirical novelist, playwright, and diarist, more commonly known as Fanny Burney.
1865 – William Butler Yeats, Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet who is one of the key figures of 20th century literature and a driving force behind the Irish Literature Revival; he is remembered for his “always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation.”
1883 – Tyler Dennett, Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian, educator and biographer.
1888 – Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher, and philosopher
1893 – Dorothy Sayers, English crime writer, poet, short-story writer, novelist, essayist, translator, and advertising copywriter; she is best known for her mystery series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.
1894 – Mark Van Doren, Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet, writer, critic, and professor.
1945 – Whitley Streiber, American writer of horror novels and paranormal nonfiction.
1948 – Ahmad Tohari, Indonesian novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and editor.
1949 – Zurinah Hassan, Malaysian novelist, poet, and short-story writer who was the first female Poet Laureate of Malaysia.
1962 – Cathy Cassidy, English author of books for children and young adults.
1963 – Audrey Niffenegger, American author and artist, best known for her debut novel The Time Traveler’s Wife.
1968 – Marcel Theroux, British novelist and broadcaster whose book Far North was a National Book Award finalist.
